Pakistan’s Mohammad Hasnain becomes youngest to claim T20I hat-trick
Nineteen-year-old Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain became the youngest bowler to claim a T20I hat-trick, when he pulled off the feat across two overs against Sri Lanka on Saturday, October 6.
Hasnain, playing only his second T20I, picked up the wicket of Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the 16th over, before returning to claim the wickets of captain Dasun Shanaka and Shehan Jayasuriya off the first two balls of the 19th over. The triple strike helped keep Sri Lanka to 165 in 20 overs, with Hasnain ending with figures of 3-37 from his four overs.
His efforts might not have resulted in victory yesterday, but how exciting is Mohammad Hasnain? ?
19 years old and playing just his second T20I, he breached the 90mph barrier to claim the second T20I hat-trick by a Pakistani ?#PAKvSL pic.twitter.com/akiR4Yw8xx
— ICC (@ICC) October 6, 2019
Hasnain sent back debutant Rajapaksa lbw off a yorker to pick up his first wicket in T20 internationals. With Sri Lanka eyeing a bump in their run-rate, he then claimed the wickets of Shanaka, who holed out to long-on, and Jayasuriya, who gave Ahmed Shehzad a catch at cover.
Honoured to become the youngest player to bag a hat-trick in the T20I cricket world. This is for the beautiful people of Pakistan and mere Ammi & Abbu. This is also dedicated to the brave team of @OfficialSLC who came to play on our grounds #PakistanZindabad #RiseAndRise #PAKvSL https://t.co/9IPh93xYVl
— Mohammad Hasnain (@MHasnainPak) October 5, 2019
It was the second T20I hat-trick of 2019; Lasith Malinga picked four wickets off four consecutive balls against New Zealand last month. Hasnain’s was the ninth hat-trick in T20Is overall, and the second for a Sri Lanka bowler against Pakistan, after Faheem Ashraf’s three in three in 2017.
Before Hasnain, the youngest on the list was Rashid Khan, who at 20 years and 162 days claimed four in four against Ireland in 2018. Hasnain set the new record at 19 years and 183 days.
Hasnain’s hat-trick couldn’t stop Sri Lanka from notching up a 64-run win in the first game of the three-match series. In response to the 166-run target, Pakistan were shot out for 101, with Nuwan Pradeep and Isuru Udana picking three wickets each.
The next game will also be played in Lahore, on October 7.
